Blog

This series has given readers a glimpse at the titles and films that directly and indirectly influenced the development of the SF series. These elements were hinted at in the earlier Creative Culture blogs as being the most important things that made SF successful. I finally got a chance to put down my observations and share them with the community, it probably would not have happened if it weren't for some guy named arttronic swiping my ideas and passing them off to the community earlier this year. The developers of the Street Fighter series could not escape the influences and presentations of the fighting arts and fighting masters from pop culture. The ways in which they synthesized these legends and recreated them for audiences in the Street Fighter series was very admirable.

Those working at Capcom had a standard to live up to. They had set the bar for fighting game character design, gameplay and control. These elements had to be dissected and understood not only by team members but also by rival studios. Producers with only a surface appreciation of the games and tried to recreate it in a different format often failed. Street Fighter the Movie and the Legend of Chun-Li could attest to that. Even comics like the Street Fighter by Malibu Comics, cartoons like the US Street Fighter series and animé like Street Fighter Generations and Street Fighter V failed to make a hit with audiences. Their projects had the same names and characters but completely missed the elements that made SF popular in the first place. Part of the reason was that those producers often lacked the background and history that influenced the original developers.

Every great work of art, every great film, comic, song or game had a history. The creators had their own influences that shaped the work they were developing. Whether they were consciously aware of these influences was something else entirely. The failed SF projects often ignored the cultural inspirations that shaped the universe. As such details like where the characters came from, how their fighting powers worked, who their masters were, etc. had to be made up by the people interpreting the games. These interpretations were often lacking, if not outright laughable. Those that had more insight on the culture and series often did better jobs with the IP. The action sequences in the SF II animé movie were choreographed by mixed martial arts champions. That was a reason why the film worked well, the other was because it was written closely to the canon of the game and did not try to tie all of the characters together at the same time.

This series did require a lot of research and touched upon a large number of sources. Here are some books to read if you are interested in learning more about the martial arts, enjoy fighting comics or would like to read the titles that influenced or paralleled the world of Street Fighter.

The Iron Marshal was a great manhua and the source for a number of comparative illustrations. Back issues are relatively inexpensive and the entire 32-issue series should not cost collectors very much.

Oriental Heroes and Buddha's Palm were some of the most popular manhua titles in history. However fans of comics and manga might want to skip the books. The art was very rough, character designs were generic, anatomy was questionable and the quality of the coloring was poor. Tony Wong had not developed his signature style yet in these books.

The Blood Sword and Blood Sword Dynasty books were slightly better drawn and had stories set in a more contemporary setting. Wing Shing Ma was the artist that Tony began modeling his style after. There were still fantasy elements and other comic book conventions in the series however to get a look at a classic manhua title this might be the place to start.

The Storm Riders by Wing Shing Ma was a more recent series. He had approached the story and art from the perspective of a film director. He wanted to create a graphic novel that played out like a film. The art worked so well as a storyboard that it was reproduced almost shot-for-shot in an actual film by the same name. Fans of dramatic storytelling with action mixed in might want to check out the series or films. Weapons of the Gods was a contemporary to the Storm Riders. It was quite possibly Tony Wong's most popular series and inspired the development of both a tabletop RPG system as well as an MMO.

Fans of the Street Fighter series might consider tracking down manhua featuring the characters. Some of these books were translated into other languages, just not English. Below are some of the Italian editions of Street Fighter manhua that I have.

Those interested in learning more about Chinese martial arts should check out the primers by Long River Press. I referenced the Shaolin Quan, Wushu, Taiji and Qi Gong primers for this series. Each one of these paperbacks came with an instructional DVD showcasing some basic stances.

Hong Kong Comics by Wendy Siuyi Wong was invaluable to the history of manhua and the creators mentioned thus far. The original five-issue run of the Four Constables is possibly the rarest series mentioned thus far. It was the best English language manhua ever published and should be in the collection of every serious martial arts and comic book fan.

The story and art featured in these issues are worth the effort.

The next series they were featured in should be easier to track down. The Four Constables Secret of the Delirium Dagger was a three-volume series in a larger format. The digital paintings of Andy Seto really pop off the page.

The big three films featuring Jimmy Wang Yu should be in the collections of every fighting movie fan.

I'll talk a little bit about fighting comics in the near future but for the most part I've said my piece on Street Fighter (again). Hopefully this series was interesting to readers. Until the next big writeup I wish you all the best and please leave a comment or question regarding anything that the series touched upon.

One of the greatest contributions that Games Workshop gave the tabletop gaming community were the stand alone games. Some of the best self-contained board games, like Talisman, Hero Quest and Space Hulk were originally created to be an alternate to the larger tabletop systems. Many of the most memorable games were revised and rereleased over the decades. Many of the games however disappeared and would only be supported in a limited capacity through GW's Specialist Games range. The loss of many great games through the 90's was lamented by the long-time GW supporters. The bottom line seemed to be more important to the company than supporting the players.

Tabletop gaming shifted through the 90's with collectable card gaming (CCG) system like Magic: the Gathering and Pokémon the CCG began taking the focus away from miniatures and dice games. Independent studios that decided to stick with miniature gaming had to provide radically fresh designs in order to appeal to gamers. Studios like Rackham from France and Privateer Press from the USA flourished when they introduced their systems to players. It took Games Workshop the better part of a decade to realize that the card based systems were not a threat to their miniature based systems. If anything they could help compliment the Warhammer universe greatly.

The inked a deal with Fantasy Flight Games to develop a series of CCG based on their IP. These games were easy to get into and play and were easily portable, unlike the miniature systems. Like other CCG games there were expansion packs featuring wonderful character illustrations and new scenarios and rules that could help diversify the experience. More important, by going to CCG systems GW and Fantasy Flight were able to resurrect fan favorite games in a new format. Blood Bowl Team Manager took the popular fantasy football system and brought it to a new generation of gamers. Independent game stores reported issues keeping the game in stock. Players were still very much interested in the game even if GW were not really updating the system for miniature players.

The Blood Bowl CCG had everything that two players needed to enjoy the game. It was very reminiscent of the self-contained boxed sets that GW used to produce.

In the past few years GW had been listening to the long time supporters and began releasing limited-edition sets that were in the spirit of their classic experiences. However instead of reprinting old rules and models for nostalgic players they went about completely recreating the boxed set. Space Hulk for example was a stand-alone game that introduced Terminator Marines to the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It featured the Terminators against hordes of aliens known as Genestealers. I had mentioned a few years ago on this blog The Return of Space Hulk and why it was important to the community.

The new game featured embossed interconnectable card stock tiles with bright laser printed graphics. These tiles worked together with plastic scenery and doors that made the game feel very well put together. The production value was years ahead of the original Space Hulk. The sculpts of the Terminators and Genestealers were not rehashes of existing models either. They were very well made and insanely detailed, bridging the modern aesthetic with the classic proportions of Citadel sculpts. These miniatures that would never get reproduced in any other system or be available in a catalog. This distinction earned the collector a rare find.

The Third Edition of Space Hulk won awards from the gaming community and was produced in relatively small numbers, driving many collectors crazy. While it was a welcome release for the community GW was still missing something. The company had earned many followers by producing original boxed games that stood alone. New tabletop players had never known the stand alone experiences aside from the CCG. Those gamers had little knowledge of the experiences that GW used to develop. Long-time players were starved for something new and not another iteration of an existing system. Veteran game designer Phil Kelly heard the call and developed a new game called DreadFleet.

The story behind the game was conceived and written by Phil himself. It revolved around a cursed fleet lead by the vampire Count Noctilus. They made up a great gallery of classic warships, including a Tomb King death barge and a mechanized Chaos Dwarf Black Kraken. The Dreadfleet had been terrorizing the Warhammer high seas for years. A pirate captain named Jaego Roth set about to avenge the death of his family by recruiting or blackmailing some powerful privateers and friends. The game picked up at the climax of the book and allows players to experience different scenarios and choose sides. Easily this was the best new game produced by the studio in over a decade.

Dreadfleet was instantly appealing to new and veteran gamers because it did many things well. The miniatures were a powerful hook but the opportunity to experience a slice of the Warhammer world in a stand alone game was something unique. The game was a self-contained title that included highly detailed plastic models, that still required paint, markers, scenery and a color printed canvas map that represented a raging sea. That approach had not been seen in a long while, not since the original Blood Bowl boxed set had turned the fantasy universe on its head. Seasoned gamers were reminded of another old system that GW had developed and then abandoned. Man-O-War was the first boxed naval combat game set in the fantasy universe. It included rules for all of the major races, miniatures, markers and scenery to get a game going right out of the box. The game did fairly well and even saw an expansion set, the Sea of Blood, and additional miniatures released for the system. What Dreadfleet was not was the second coming of Man-O-War. It was a stand alone game with no plans for expansions or sequels. This both delighted and saddened players.

Veterans knew that if the release did not do well then GW would not support it and rules, errata and miniatures would be released sporadically through the Specialist Games store. The best way to preserve the legacy of the game was by making sure that the single experience was the best possible naval combat system the studio could produce. If players supported it then there was a chance that GW might consider making more stand alone games as well as they had done in the late 80's and early 90's. When the studio had their focus on the board game there wasn't another company that could touch them. Seasoned players were hoping that the company would return to that mentality and consider releasing other stand alone experiences. They would still be expected to support their core Warhammer Fantasy and 40,000 universes, as they had done decades ago, while making new experiences.

The stand alone game was also a gateway to the tabletop gaming hobby. It was a way to appeal to new players with a minimum level of investment required. Painting and assembling the Dreadfleet could help introduce the player to the hobby aspect while the easy-to-read markers and straightforward rule system got them into the gaming aspect. The appeal to many tabletop system was that there was something tangible to play with. Whether it was a CCG system or a miniatures based system, gamers had something to collect and personalize. Players did not need a television or console to enjoy these experiences. Best of all the stand alone format could compliment an existing universe or IP. A well design game with easy to follow rules could make a comic book, movie, cartoon or even videogame into a great board game. These games would not necessarily be a substitute for the series but instead a continuation of them. Bungie and Microsoft discovered this when Halo was licensed out for the Clix system of gaming. More recently Epic Games discovered this when they licensed Gears of War as a board game.

Studios like Games Workshop and Fantasy Flight Games were bridging the gap from casual gaming to hobby gaming by making great stand alone systems. This approach was actually nothing new to the industry. Decades ago the earliest videogame to board game titles were nothing more than copies of screen mechanics to paper boards. This was done to cash in on the craze of videogaming rather than to satiate the gaming desires of the public.

Games Workshop found success over the past couple of years by returning to the card and board game systems that made young players get interested in the hobby so many years ago. The further the studio shifted the focus from original ideas with great play elements to more established systems the more isolated they became. A similar thing could be said of Nintendo, which used to make card games, toys and stand-alone handheld elextronic games. They all had their own unique play elements that turned young gamers into fans. Both GW and Nintendo had spent the better part of the 90's pandering to fans without catering to the play elements that helped create new followers. Only in the start of the new milennium did the studios begin going back to basics. But that would be a topic best saved for some other blog...

I hope my short look at Games Workshop has gotten you interested in tabletop gaming. Those that are interested should consider investing in some paints and brushes and getting the Dreadfleet game. Good things can come to those who play.

Here's something that I was mulling over following the brawler series. I had previously mentioned that SNK had not announced a new Metal Slug game following the 3D version, especially not one bringing the experience back to 2D where it belonged. I had hoped that the studio was secretly working on new HD sprites using the same technology they exploited in the King of Fighters XII and XIII series.

Then reality hit me. SNK-Playmore does not have the time, money or resources required to make an HD Metal Slug experience. The title features far more 2D animations than just about any other game ever made. It would take an animation giant like Disney or Studio Ghibli to turnaround the thousands of frames of animations used in each game, especially in high definition. Just because the hand-drawn Metal Slug might not return does not mean that the game might not return to its 2D roots.

Capcom had learned that fans of a genre and a universe were also passionate about preserving the gameplay. Take for example the remake of Bionic Commando. When the game went full 3D it did not impress gamers or reviewers and failed to meet expectations for the sales dept. Yet the remake of the original 2D Nintendo version, with updated 3D graphics wowed audiences. The simple but memorable control scheme, level designs and characters all won out over the bigger-budget remake.

The 2.5D Bionic Commando Rearmed sold 130,000 units in its first week or release, whereas the 3D remake of Bionic Commando sold a total of 27,000 units in its first month during the same calendar year. The gamers had spoken Some experiences did not translate well to 3D no matter how original the plot or mechanics were planned out A similar thing could be said of Metal Slug 3D. The game featured all the familiar characters, locations and even vehicles, however the gameplay from the original was lacking. If SNK-Playmore wanted to reboot the franchise while updating the graphics technology and shortening the development cycle then they should learn from Capcom.

A 2.5D version of Metal Slug could preserve the familiar side-scrolling run-and-gun adventures of the 2D title but allow for even more dynamic and breathtaking backgrounds to be rendered, illuminated and textured in 3D. These types of experiences work well on PSN and XBLA services. SNK-Playmore could release a series of downloadable adventures, or "missions" and cut out the retail stores altogether, taking the game directly to the people. That’s what I think anyhow. Would you play a 2.5D version of Metal Slug?

Nice

yo wadup Noe just wanted to tell you you got some nice ass art in the images section and as for the japanese racing game video you posted looks crazy i never seen nothing like that before... aight man take care peace!!